MINUTES
Meeting of August 26, 1997
The Legislative Oversight Committee on Restructuring Education met at 9:45 a.m. in the cafeteria of the State House.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Sens. Cheryl P. Rivers, Chair; Nancy I. Chard; James H. Greenwood; Reps. Paul A. Cillo; John S. Freidin; David C. Hathaway; Martha P. Heath; Karen M. Lafayette.
STAFF PRESENT: Bill Russell, Anne Winchester and Rachel Levin of the Legislative Council; Doug Williams of the Joint Fiscal Office.
Senator Rivers called the meeting to order. She recognized Rep. Cillo who distributed information dated 8/22/97 entitled, Special Education Spending. The committee agreed that the chair would write a letter on behalf of the committee to the congressional delegation, enclosing the information on special education spending.
2. REPORT FROM STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Diane Wolk, Chair of the State Board of Education, reviewed 8/18/97 information for the committee entitled, Equal Educational Act Updates for Board of Education Input. Commissioner of Education, Marc Hull commented on research and studies underway.
4. REPORT FROM COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, MARC HULL
Commissioner Hull reviewed an 8/26/97 memo to the committee re Education Department and State Board update, 8/25/97 information entitled, Research Related to EEOA, and 8/25/97 information entitled, FY98 Estimated Tax Impact.
Gerry Cassell and Bill Scherr of the Department of Education and Commissioner Ed Haase jointed Commissioner Hull in answering the committee’s questions.
3. REPORT FROM SECRETARY OF ADMINISTRATION, KATHY HOYT
Secretary Hoyt reviewed an 8/26/97 memo to the committee as well as a 7/15/97 attachment. Discussion focused on a time line for distributing information about Act 60 to the public as well as specific groups of local town and school officials.
5. REPORT FROM COMMISSIONER OF TAXES, ED HAASE
Commissioner Haase reviewed an 8/13/97 memo to local officials as well as 8/14/97 questions generated at the Vermont League of Cities and Towns summit.
6. REPORT FROM SENATOR RIVERS AND REPRESENTATIVE CILLO ON
VERMONT LEAGUE OF CITIES AND TOWNS 8/14/97 SUMMIT
8. DISCUSSION WITH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, BOB McNAMARA
ON DATA COLLECTION
Bob McNamara, Department of Education and Sandy MacDowel of MacDowel and Company discussed with the committee the specifications necessary for a management information system and what is necessary to carry out Act 60 implementation. The committee requested that the Department of Education come back to the committee with a one page summary of the plan for the system.
9. FUTURE COMMITTEE PLANS, COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
Committee discussion focused on what a public information campaign might entail and what the priority is for getting information out and to whom. There was also discussion about a Request for Proposal (RFP) which the Secretary of Administration plans on sending out on Friday for assistance with the public information campaign. The committee requested that Secretary Hoyt seek input from professionals well-versed in RFP’s as well as committee members.
Commissioner Hull said he was going to work on drafting a memo to school boards and Commissioner Haase said he’d draft a memo to listers and other officials on the town level to begin the process of communication about the time line and information necessary for Act 60 implementation.
An 8/25/97 e-mail message from Rep. Patty Smith to Sen. Rivers was distributed and discussed. Act 60 directs an advisory committee of town officials to be established. The committee agreed to appoint a chair and invite a suggested list of town and city clerks and treasurers to serve.
7. REPORT FROM LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ON RESPONSE TO 8/8/97
MAILING TO LOCAL OFFICIALS
Bill Russell reported that there were approximately fifty responses to date. It was agreed that responses would be drafted and that the local town and school officials mailed to on 8/8/97 would be mailed to again with an update from the committee.
10. MEETING SCHEDULE
The following meetings were scheduled to take place on the following Tuesdays, to begin at 9:30 a.m. and be held in the State House Legislative Lounge:
- September 9
- September 16
- September 23
- October 7
- October 14
- October 21
- October 28
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
On a motion made by Sen. Chard, the committee approved the minutes of the August 1 meeting, as submitted.
The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rachel Levin